What is Halloween? Why do we celebrate Halloween on October 31st? Why do we wear costumes, or carve pumpkins on Halloween? What are the origins of trick or treat? Halloween, often tainted with comercialism, is a deep rooted festival with origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain. “We had no pumpkins for Halloween when I […]
Jonathan Safron Foer says he was never particularly interested in family history, and did not give much thought to his Jewishness. Then he went to the Ukraine with an old photograph, and found himself writing a book steeped in Jewish culture. “ One of the great things about writing is that you get a chance […]
I am sipping my morning coffee as I gaze at a panorama of brilliant colours all around me. A slight breeze, fresh as the sea, brings the scent of thousands of wild flowers. The green hillside is dewy and glitters in the pale early sunshine. White clouds still shroud black mountains, which form a wild […]
Non-EU nations in Europe are an increasingly rare breed. Norwegians twice rejected membership in referenda which saw the grassroots triumph over the political establishment, rejecting the advice of governments and mass media. It is now ten years since they last said No. What has it meant for the country? Do Norwegians feel they have suffered […]
“I just hope they will not burn the school. The Taliban is back, and in recent months they have burnt down a dozen girls' schools.” Åsne Seierstad knows what she is talking about. The school she is concerned with is the one they are building in Afghanistan with the proceeds from her best-selling book, The […]
A stretch of coastline littered with rocky islands and skerries, hidden bays and coves, shimmering, clear water. No “Private” signs. Free access to your own piece of sun drenched rock and blue-green lagoon. Newly picked strawberries. Fresh shellfish. Lush forests, green meadows and carpets of wild flowers. A small town with beautiful, old whitewashed wooden […]
